1/4 Aluminum Plate And Welding

Fabricators and manufacturers work with a variety of metals to produce components and products. Rolling mills are responsible for providing distributors with a variety of sizes, shapes, and thicknesses. While stainless steel is one option, another popular one is aluminum. Companies in places such as Minneapolis may require a number of different thicknesses and shapes to complete a project. In many cases, the desired metal is 1/4 aluminum plate.

About Aluminum

No one doubts the durability of high-quality aluminum. It currently rivals stainless steel in applications. The two battle it out among distributors, fabricators, and manufacturers for popularity. Aluminum does offer certain advantages to its proponents. They cite it has:

* High strength-to-weight ratio

* Resistance to corrosion

* Nontoxicity

* High thermal conductivity

* Recyclability

Many aluminum applications do not require a protective coating. However, aluminum does readily accepts different types of surface finishes.

1/4 Aluminum Plate and Welding

Using aluminum plate in many applications requires welding the material. While such types as 5052-H32 are readily weldable, issues do exist with increasing thickness of the metal. For some Minneapolis welders, thickness begins at ¼ inch. This does not affect the ability of a welder to perform this action, rather its results in utilizing different equipment.

Welding of aluminum of over ¼-inch requires heavy-duty welding equipment. This increasingly is important and unavoidable for production using aluminum of this and higher thicknesses. Welders will also have to consider such factors as whether the labor will be manual, automatic or even CNC, as well as such aspects as:

* The capability of the machinery available

* The weld position

* Type of welding specifications

* Whether the aluminum an alloy and what type of aluminum alloy it is

* Required number of passes

Only by considering all such characteristics can a welder determine the right approach to welding ¼-inch aluminum plate. In Minneapolis, although some welders consider this the least thick plate possible, they realize it can still present a challenge when welding.